Madoff trustee files many new lawsuits

* Hundreds of millions of dollars sought from private banks

* Banks said to receive transfers from Madoff feeder funds

* Private lenders in Switzerland, Belgium among those sued

By Jonathan Stempel

June 6 (Reuters) - The trustee seeking money for Bernard
Madoff's victims on Wednesday filed many new lawsuits to recover
several hundred millions of dollars derived from investments by
"feeder" funds in the imprisoned swindler's former firm.

Among the other complaints is a $122.2 million case against
defendants including ABN Amro Fund Services (Isle of Man)
Nominees Ltd, and a $108.1 million case against defendants
including Belgian private lender Banque Degroof SA.

These defendants did not immediately respond to respective
requests for comment.

Picard has filed more than 1,000 lawsuits on behalf of
former Madoff customers, and according to his website has
reached agreements to recover $9.13 billion to repay them.

Much of that sum is tied up in litigation. The trustee has
distributed about $332.6 million to customers since Madoff's
Ponzi scheme was uncovered in December 2008.

Wednesday's lawsuits were filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Manhattan.

They seek to recover money transferred to third-party
defendants by feeder funds that had funneled much of their
customer money to Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.

Amanda Remus, a spokeswoman for Picard, said the lawsuits
were being filed prior to Thursday's one-year anniversary of
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland's conditional approval of a
settlement between the trustee and Fairfield Sentry liquidators.

"Tomorrow is the earliest date that defendants could claim
the one-year statute of limitations expires for subsequent
transfer cases" based on that settlement, she said.

Fairfield Greenwich had been the largest feeder of cash to
Madoff's firm. Picard and liquidators for the Fairfield funds
have also been pursuing claims against Fairfield's owners,
including co-founder Walter Noel.

Madoff, 74, pleaded guilty in March 2009 to running his
Ponzi scheme. He is serving a 150-year sentence in a North
Carolina federal prison.